Carry-all with claw loading scraper apron



WYIW

June 18, 1957 l. J. WARDLE' 2,795,872

CARRY-ALL II'THYCLAI 1.0mm: SCRAFER APRON Y Filed Se t. 12. 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR lldle ATTORNEYS June 18, 1957 J.-WAR DLE CARRY-ALL IITH CLAW LOADING SCRAPER APRON Filed Supt. 12, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 l I l llllL ll INVENTOR [.J 15m ATTORNEYS June 18, 1957 1. J. WARDLE 95,

CARRY-ALL WITH cLAw LOADING 50mm APRON i'i1ed Sept. 12, 1952 sums-sun's ATTORNEYS June 18, 1957 I. J. WARDLE 2,795,872

CARRY-ALL WITH CLAW LOADING SCRAPER APRON Filed Sept. 12, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN VENTOR ATTORNEY?)- CARRY-ALL WITH CLAW LOADING SCRAPER APRON Isaac J. Wardle, Boise, Idaho Application September 12, 1952, Serial No. 309,174

4 Claims. (Cl. 37-126) This invention relates to a vehicle fordigging, loading, hauling, dumping and spreading of earth materials, such as common excavation sand and gravel, and for general grading operations. More particularly, it relates to a carry-all type of vehicle with an all-wheel drive and having a claw loading scraper apron of a construction to enable easy scraper loading of the vehicle with a minimum consumption of power.

An outstanding vdisadvantage of conventional earth moving vehicles is that they are insufiiciently versatile in operation, therefore necessitate assistance of other vehicles for the purpose of cutting a roadway and providing the necessary roadway fill to permit a carry-all type of earth moving vehicle to have the necessary traction in rough or soft terrain. This necessity for assistance by other vehicles substantially increases the capital investment for performing particular earth moving operations, or projects, and necessitates the transportation and maintenance of additional vehicles which is a serious disadvantage, particularly in overseas war operations, such as the building of landing strips and the like.

In most existing designs of carry-all equipment, tracor a substantial part thereof, is carried by the rear wheels which are not power driven. Such application of power only to the front wheels does not make full use of the horsepower developed by the motor. Moreover, when the powered wheels are turned in soft or slick material, the traction is poor, and the horsepower developed by the motor is substantially or totally lost. Likewise, if the front wheels are on solid ground, and the rear wheels are bogged down in soft material, the traction applied to the rear wheels is at a distance from the center of gravity, hence a portion of the horsepower developed by the motor is lost.

In most conventional scraper loading, dirt moving vehicles, the scraper box is loaded by draw power only. The material loaded is loosened from the ground by a cutting blade and forced back into the box by Virtue of the forward movement of the vehicle. As material is forced from the cutting blade into the front part of the box, it compacts, and its mass and weight increase until the force required to move all of the accumulated material back into the box to make room near the front of the box for additional material, is greater than the force required to loosen and load additional material. When this condition prevails, the new material that is loosened by the forward motion of the cutting blade merely accumulates in front of the machine but does not move back into the box.

Attempts have been made to overcome this defect by applying power to scraper aprons for the purpose of pushing the aprons out in front of the cutting blade and drawing the loosened material back to the cutting blade. But this merely adds additional materialto the compact mass already deposited in the forepart of the box. Such aprons States Patent are generally designed so as to also move the entire accumulated mass to the rear of the box. In other words, they are designed to move the entire accumulated mass so as to provide space for new material to be loaded by additional loading cycles. The operating mechanism for the apron is generally mounted towards the front and near the top of the box and constitutes an obstruction in case it is desiredto unload sticky material.

An object of my invention is to provide a novel earth moving vehicle which is devoid of the above named disadvantages of conventional earth moving vehicles, and more particularly, to provide a carry-alltype of earth moving vehicle having a four wheel drive powered by a single motor so as to obtain traction and floatation approximating that of a:tractor or track laying vehiclewithout loss of speed or mobility.

Another object of my invention is to provide a scraper loading dirt moving vehicle wherein the cutting bit is foremost of the vehicle and is unobstructed by a motor .or other power equipment, therefore which is enabled to dump against a wall or over an embankment as a dump truck as well as to carry and dump at'a forward point its own road fill over marshy ground or a stream without the aid of a bulldozer to carry the fill ahead as-is generally required for conventional vehicles-also, which is able'to travelin either direction at relatively high speeds by the use of a double acting transmission-and a still further object is to provide'a scraper box having a low center of gravity and of maximum capacity to permit loading of extra yardage.

' A still further object of the present invention is 'to provide, in an earth moving vehicle of the scraper loading type, a power operated, claw loading scraper apron will reach out forwardly of the cutting bit and will scrape or draw loosened dirt rearwardly over the ac-; cumulative pile of dirt at the forepart of the box instead of moving the already accumulated dirt together therewith, thus quickly loading the vehicle in a mini mum time and with a minimum expenditure of power. 7

"Other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent from a study of the following description taken with the accompanying drawings In its exemplary form herein shown, the invention is applied to a carry-all type of vehicle. It is, however, to be regarded as being applicable for use on other types of vehicles, such as tractors, or semi-tractors, and the like.

In the drawings, which accompany the following specification and throughout the figures, of which the same reference characters have been used to denote identical parts;

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a carry-all vehicle having a scraper box and scraper apron operating mechanism embodying the principles of my invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view, partly in longitudinal cross-section, of the vehicle shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a transverse, cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Figure 2 Figure 4'is a fragmentary, side elevational view of the vehicle shown in'Figure 1, with portions shown broken away, and showing the apron in its uppermost or lifted position;

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view taken .along line 55 of Figure 4, and

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the hydraulic system employed for operating the various parts shown in the previous figures.

Referring more particularly to Figures 1, 2 and 3, numeral 1 denotes a vehicle chassis or frame on the rear portion of which is supported a driving motor 2 which may be a gasoline engine or a diesel engine. Suc-h'positioning of the motor counterbalances the load of the scraper box described hereinafter.

Motor 2 drives through a rear differential 3, as shown more clearly in Figure 5, driving rear wheels 4 preferably having pneumatic tires. The motor drives also through a clutch 5, transmission 6, front differential 7, and axle 8. At the end of axle 8 are rigidly mounted sprocket wheels 9 which drive chains 10 which, in turn, drive sprocket wheels 11 rigidly mounted on the ends of the front wheel axles or stub shafts 12., thereby driving the front wheels 13. It will be noted, therefore, that the front wheels 13 are rigidly journalled on the chassis or frame, Whereas the rear wheels 4 may be suspended from the chassis by any conventional spring mounting or linkage permitting lateral tilting and swivel movement of the rear wheels to enable them to adapt themselves to uneven terrain for better traction. Only the rear wheels 4 are steered by means of steering arms or linkage 14.

A drivers seat 15 is placed ahead of the motor and substantially centrally of the vehicle to permit all around vision. Operating controls 16 of any conventional type are disposed in front of the operators seat for steering the rear wheels and otherwise controlling the operation of the motor and vehicle.

The short overall length and wheel base facilitates short turns and working in close quarters, such as wooded or stumpy areas.

Extending transversely of the vehicle and encasing the front differential 7 is a cross box beam frame 17, and extending along the sides of the vehicle as extensions thereof are side box beam frames 18 whose forward ends are rigidly secured by means of extensions 19 to the chassis or frame. Sprocket wheels 9 and 11 and chains 10 are contained within box beam frames 18. The side box beam frames 18 provide a rigid or relatively stationary support, somewhat as the chassis, and, as shown more clearly in Figure 5, have laterally extending bearings 20 in which are rotatably mounted shafts 21 which are integrally secured to the sides of a scraper box 22. Thus the scraper box 22 is pivotally mounted at its rear end with respect to the stable base provided by the side box beam frames 18, thereby permitting the front or open end of the box to be lowered so that a cutting bit 23 rigidly secured to a front extension 22d of the bottom of the box may be lowered into the ground to dig into the earth as a consequence of forward movement of the vehicle and thereby load the scraper box by scraper action.

A pair of hydraulic cylinders 24 are mounted on the sides of the vehicle on extensions 18a rigidly secured to the side box beam frames 18 whereby the scraper box 22 may be hydraulically lifted or lowered by pivotal movement about shafts 21, thereby lifting or lowering the cutting bit 23 into the ground. The lower limit of movement is such that a clearance will exist between the sidewall extensions of scraper box 22 and the top of the front wheels 12.

At the rear of the scraper box 22 there is provided a tailgate or rear wall 25 which is hydraulically movable in a forward direction to enable unloading of the scraper box by pushing action on the earth or other material contained therein. Rigidly secured to the rear and side portions of the tailgate 25 are the ends of pistons or plungers 26 which are motivated forwardly and rearwardly by double acting hydraulic cylinders or ejecting rams 27 whose rear ends are mounted on the chassis or frame 1. Along spaced points of the perimeter of the tailgate 25 are provided guide rollers 28 for permitting a rolling action with respect to the sidewalls and floor of the scraper box and thereby facilitate movement of the tailgate in a forward or rearward direction by means of the hydraulic cylinders 27. By the provision of a pair of hydraulic cylinders at laterallyspaced points as well as the guide rollers, the tailgate is accurately guided and maintained at right angles to the sidewalls and bottoms of the scraper box at all times during its movement, thereby effectively pushing the contents of the box forwardly for unloading. At the end of the forward movement and of unloading, the tailgate is retracted to its rear or normal position as shown in Figure 2 to serve as the rear wall of the scraper box. Greater power and less likelihood of binding is assured by the two cylinders 27.

An important feature of the construction of the scraper box 22 resides in the outward flare of its side walls as provided by extensions 22a, 22b and 220, as well as the outward extension of the bottom wall 22:! on which is rigidly secured an extra-wide cutting bit 23 which extends at least across the gap between the outer sides of the front wheels. By this construction, a greater width of cutting bit is provided than the wheel tread spacing for loosening more soil, and a greater surface area in the scraper box is provided to accommodate a greater amount of scooped material in loading, thereby enabling the box to carry substantially more material than in the case wherein no sidewall extensions were provided. Another outstanding result obtained from the above described scraper box construction is that since the cutting bit bites into the ground and scraper loading is effected along the entire width of the vehicle, the vehicle is enabled to cut its own track or roadway for its wheels or to dig its own trench in rough terrain instead of requiring this to be done by a bulldozer or other vehicle. The vehicle is enabled to cut either a straight path or track or a curved one, particularly if the width of the cutting bit and flared sidewall extensions is greater than the gap between the front wheel outside walls. Moreover, by virtue of the ability to unload forwardly, it can carry and deposit its own roadway fill, such as stones or gravel on marshy ground or streams to increase its traction.

, Another feature of outstanding importance resides in the assembly and claw loading operation of the scraper apron 32 and its associated parts. Apron 32 which normally acts as the front wall of the scraper box 22, is preferably of angular construction comprising panels 32a and 32b. The lower panel 32b is normally disposed substantially at right angles to the bottom of box 22. It will be noted from Figure 3 that the scraper apron 32, as evidenced by its lower panel 32b, is of such width as to overlap the sides of the rectangular chamber of the scraper box 22 so that the bottom edges of the scraper apron rides upon the surfaces of the extensions 22a, 22b and 22c when the lower panel of the apron has been retracted sufliciently to close the flared mouth of the scraper box.

Extending upwardly and integrally from side box beam frames 18 are extensions 18!) onto which are pivotally connected, by pivots 34, the ends of substantially L-shaped apron arms 33 whose upper ends are pivotally secured to the upper corners of the apron 32 by means of pivots or hinges 35. At an intermediate point of each of the apron arms 33, there is pivotally connected a double acting hydraulic cylinder 36 having a plunger whose end 37 is pivotally connected to one side of the apron 32. Thus, as the hydraulic cylinders 36 are operated so as to extend their respective plungers, apron 32 is moved outwardly to a position substantially at right angles to arms 33 as shown in dash-and-dot lines in Figure 2. Apron arms 33 are pivotally movable about pivots 34 by means of hydraulic cylinders 40 which may be termed apron lowering In the operation of the scraper apron 32, it will be apparent that by extension of the plungers in cylinders 36 and 40, apron 32 will be moved [forwardly of the scraper box as shown in dash-and-dot lines in Figure 2 so that it may be in a posit-ion to pull rearwardly dirt or soil that may be in a pile or that may be loosened by the cutting bit, and this rearward movement of apron 32 may take place up to the cutting bit position. Thereafter, inasmuch as there is an accumulation of dirt, the top outline of which is indicated in Figure 2, additional loosened dirt may then be loaded by pulling it rearwardly along substantially the path indicated by the arrows in Figure 2, that is, over and above the accumulated dirt and to the rear of the scraper box 22. This can be done by moving apron arms 33 about their pivots 34 to the full line position shown in Figure 2, or to an intermediate position, and thereafter operating cylinders 36 so as to retract their plungers and thus move apron 32 through an are which will cause rearward scraping of the additional loosened dirt over the pile already accumulated. This action of pivotal movement of apron arms 32 followed by pivotal movement of apron 32 may be repeated many times to eitect loading while the vehicle is travelling forward and scraping up more dirt. The operating means for apron 32 makes it unnecessary to scrape or pull back the large mass of dirt which has already accumulated in the forepart of the scraper box, and, instead, enables the scraping or pulling back only of new accumulations of dirt over and above the already accumulated pile, thereby saving time as Well as power otherwise necessary for pulling back the entire load of accumulated dirt for making room for additional dirt.

As stated previously, the above movements of the scraper apron 32 may occur while the vehicle is moving forwardly and scooping up dirt from the ground. Apron 32 serves as a front gate to hold the material after loading.

Another outstanding advantage of the pivotal mounting for apron 32 is in the handling of rocky or gravel material. When a rock sticks between the bit and apron, by merely forcing the apron forwardly and backwardly, the rock can be dropped out without raising the apron which would otherwise let the entire load fall out. Moreover, in dumping loose running materials, such as sand or crushed gravel, scraper apron 32 may be lowered to the position shown in dot-and-dash lines in Figure 2, that is, a few inches away from the bottom, whereby controlled amounts of the material may be dumped to enable spreading of an even layer over roadways and the like. A still further advantage is obtained in the case of dumping of wet loads. By raising apron 32 to the full line position shown in Figure 2, it will not provide an obstruction to unloading of the wet material. An additional advantage is obtained in that apron 32 may be lowered to and held in a forward position to make the vehicle serve as a bulldozer to push dirt, rocks or other material that is in the path of movement of the vehicle, cover ditches, fill holes or ruts in roads and other bulldozer operations. Apron 32 can be moved sufficiently forwardly of box 22 to permit claw loading from piles of material.

Fi ure 6 shows the hydraulic system including the various hydraulic cylinders described hereinabove and showing how the various cylinders may be controlled from a central point, such as a multiple valve assembly 42 which may be of the Vickers or any other well known type wherein separate valves are provided for individually controlling the flow of hydraulic liquid (or air pressure in a pneumatic system) in the various cylinders so as to cause either retraction or extension of the respective pistons or plungers for two-way operation of the hydraulically operated elements attached thereto. An oil tank containing pump 43 may be provided with a relief valve 44 and may be driven by the motor 2 to create the necessary pressure for operating the various hydraulic cylinders.

Of course, other motive means may be substituted for the various hydraulic cylinders, .such as pneumatic cylinders or electrically operated solenoids. However, substantially greater forces are more easily obtainable by hydraulic means.

Since the motor is mounted rearwardly of the scoop and there are no forward obstructions in the scraper box, the vehicle may also be loaded by dragline, shovel or tractor-loader as a dump truck wherein the low positioning of the box provides a great advantage in loading as well as maneuverability because of the lower center of gravity. The vehicle may load itself or may be push loaded by another vehicle. It may unload in several small piles or it can spread its load to an exact thickness controllable "by the operator while the vehicle is moving either forwardly or rearwardly.

Furthermore, while the above vehicle has been described as a four wheel drive carry-all, in situations where greater floatation and maneuverability over very rough terrain is desired, a track drive, that is, a track laying drive, as used in army tanks, may be substituted for the wheel drive where speed is not an important factor.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a novel and highly efii-cient vehicle or machine for digging, loading, hauling, dumping or spreading of earth materials and for general grading operations, which vehicle is in the form of a four wheel drive carry-all driven by a single motor through front and rear differentials so as to obtain high speeds in either direction of movement as well as greater traction, particularly on slick soil; furthermore, I have provided a scraper loaded vehicle having a scraper box with an outwardly flared mouth portion at the front extending across the entire width of the vehicle so as to enable it to 'dig its own track or tunnel as well as to lay its own road fill forwardly of itself over marshy ground or streams, thus eliminating the necessity of a bulldozer for clearing the way or for carrying the fill ahead as required for other machines, and which box has outwardly flared sidewalls to provide additional earth carrying capacity to insure paying loads, also, which box has a low center of gravity providing greater maneuverability as well as greater ease for receiving dirt dumped from other vehicles; furthermore, I have provided a novel operating linkage for the scraper apron in order to give it a novel claw loading movement so as to pull back dirt as it is loosened from the ground over'the top of already accumulated dirt in the forepart of the scraper box so as to quickly load the box without the exertion of extra power otherwise necessary to move the already accumulated dirt rearwardly as necessary in conventional vehicles of this type; furthermore, I have provided an earth moving vehicle which is extremely flexible and versatile in operation and which can dig, load, unload and spread dirt, and which is useful as a load receiving or dump truck as well as a bulldozer.

While I have described and illustrated a specific embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that this is by way of illustration only and not by way of limitation and that various changes and modifications may be made within the contemplation of my invention and within the scope of the following claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. An earth moving vehicle comprising a mobile frame, an earth container supported on the frame, an apron member extending transversely of the container, support means mounted movably on the vehicle and supporting the apron member for reciprocative movement along a concave path with respect to the bottom of the container and extending between a forward lowered position adjacent the front end of the container arcuately upward and rearward to an elevated position rearward of the front end of the container, pivot means interconnecting the apron member and support means, power means interconnecting the apron member and support means and operable to maintain the apron member 7 in earth scraping position during rearward movement of the apron member whereby to scrape rearwardly the upper portion of earth piled at the front end of the container, and power means interconnecting the support means and vehicle for moving the apron member along said path.

2. An earth moving vehicle comprising a mobile frame, an earth container supported on the frame, an apron member extending transversely of the container, lever means mounted adjacent one end pivotally on the vehicle rearwardly of the forward end of the container, pivot means supporting the apron member on the lever means adjacent the opposite end of the latter, power means interconnecting the lever means and apron member for rotating the apron member relative to the lever means, and reciprocative power means interconnecting the lever means and vehicle for rotating the lever means whereby to move the apron member along a path extending between a forward lowered position adjacent the front end of the container arcuately upward and rearward to an elevated position adjacent the rear end of the container, whereby to scrape rearwardly the upper portion of earth piled at the front end of the container,

3. An earth-moving vehicle comprising a mobile frame supported upon laterally spaced traction members, an earth container supported on the frame and having a bottom and side walls extending forwardly of the traction members, scoop means extendingv forwardly from the front end of the container bottom and side walls and flared forwardly at least to the outer planes of the traction members, an apron member extending transversely of the container substantially the full width of the scoop means, support means mounted movably ,on the vehicle and supporting the apron member for reciprocative movement along a concave path with respect to the bottom of the container and extending between a forward lowered position adjacent the'front end of the container arcuate- 1y upward and rearward'to an elevated position rearward of the front end of the container, pivot means interconnecting the apron member and support means, power means interconnecting the apron member and support means and operable to maintain the apron member in earth scraping position during rearward movement of the apron member whereby to scrape rearwardly the upper portion of earth piled at the front end of the conmam , 8 tainer, and power means interconnecting the support means and vehicle for moving the apron member along said path.

4.7 An earth moving vehicle comprising a mobile frame supported upon laterally spaced traction members, an earth container supported on the frame and having a bottom and side walls extending forwardly of the traction members, scoop means extending forwardly from the front end of the container bottom and side walls and flared forwardly at least to the outer planes of the traction members, an apron member extending transversely of the container substantially the full Width of the scoop means, support means mounted movably on the vehicle and supporting the apron member for reciprocative movement along a concave path with respect to the bottom of the container and extending between a forward lowered position adjacent the front end of the container arcuately upward and rearward to an elevated position rearward of the front end of the container, pivot means interconnecting the apron member and support means, power means interconnecting the apron member and support means and operable to maintain the apron member in earth scraping position during rearward movement of the apron member whereby to scrape rearwardly the upper portion of earth piled at the front end of the container, power means interconnecting the support means and vehicle for moving the apron member along said path, and a power operated rear wall in the container and reciprocative therein between the rear and front ends thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,249,356 Goodman July 15, 1941 2,263,028 Brownell Nov. 18, 1941 2,348,910 Kadz May 16, 1944 2,380,285 Austin July 10, 1945 2,396,287 Robb Mar. 12, 1946 2,548,754 Vereschagin Apr. 10, 1951 2,565,384 Lindquist Aug. 21, 1951 2,573,720 Lichtenberg Nov. 6, 1951 2,597,496 Jeffrey May 20, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 585,337 Germany on. 2, 1933 

